thnx for all the replies u sent. After reading all the above, I m even my soul of next 2 incarnations will be convince that freewares are better than paid ones sometimes. And they are a lot better than the Norton n Mcaffee products.

Quote:

1.Router (even if you only have the one PC)
2.AVG (Grisoft) or Avast
3.A-squared
4.Zone Alarm
5. Adaware SE
6. Microsoft Antispyware Beta
7. Spywareblaster
8. Spybot S & D (this one is slowly becoming redundant, because of all of the others)
9. Ewido 14 Day trial
10. spywareguard

i'll be definitely goin for this list. Is anything else I wud require except these?

December 19th, 2005, 05:52 AM

ric-o

My list is very similar to others on this thread.

My medicine is as follows (for home PC...some products can be used at work too depending on licensing and company policies)...

Web Browser Tricks/Tips...
* Surf the web on websites that aren't not confirmed to be trusted = Mozilla with Active-X and JAVA turned off
* Use both IE and Mozilla using DropMyRights by Microsoft. Dont have link but search for it on Microsoft's site. It basically allows you to run any application in a mode with fewer rights than logged on user.

Important note: Many of the above programs dont have an automatic update feature...so you have to manually update it. I've noted the ones that I know DO have an autoupdate feature.

And since you are taking the pain to download so many security software please read the following thread on tips for security your OS (this one's mainly about Windows XP) also go through the tutorials here at Antionline

Alternatively, you can just download VMware Player and the Ubuntu-based Browser Applicance - then, just surf the net within the virtual machine and all your problems will be gone! ;)

-jk

December 19th, 2005, 12:07 PM

nihil

J_K9 please be slightly cautious,

You are really preaching "security through obscurity", which is "OK as long as it lasts"?

Trouble is, you will find the expiry date rather too late?

Code~ The EWIDO only has a 14 day trial on the interactive module. I find it useful afterwards as it is free to update and run as an "on demand" scanner (no conflicts huh?)

Season's greetings

:)

December 19th, 2005, 01:10 PM

J_K9

Sorry nihil, I was being slightly too liberate - what I meant was that browsing the internet through a virtual machine is an added layer of security (because the virtual machine is not directly connected to your computer). I still have an antivirus, firewall, and whatnot, but I use the VM on top anyway (and I also prefer the Linux GUI to Windows ;)).

-jk

December 19th, 2005, 04:36 PM

Aspman

Quote:

ZoneAlarm is not very compatable with with avast

I think is what you mean MrB.

I use the two together, and although I did get a warning message when I first installed Avast (AVG already on), it presented a 'Fix this problem' option which I took and I've not had any problems with the two of them.

I'll agree with the others about Norton, I'm not a fan either. It slows machines down terribly..

December 20th, 2005, 04:14 AM

ShagDevil

Quote:

After reading all the above, I m even my soul of next 2 incarnations will be convince that freewares are better than paid ones sometimes. And they are a lot better than the Norton n Mcaffee products

Hmmm, here we are again. Bashing Norton, promoting AVG. And here I am again, disinclined to agree. Through research and more importantly, personal experience, I can say without a doubt that AVG (free or paid version) is not better than Symantec's products on any system/network I have used/managed. I have yet (again) to see anyone provide any concrete evidence showing their claims to be valid. No tangible evidence outside of "well, my system is clean".
HTregz and myself had this debate quite some time ago. Full Thread here
Don't take people's word of mouth as gold. Research it for yourself. Combine what you get here, with what you learn from checking out other sites and come to your own conclusion which AV is best for you.
We've had these discussions many times here before and it usually just winds up amounting to a bunch of gorillas flinging poop at eachother in the end. AV products are like religion&politics. Pick what works for you and don't talk about it at the water cooler because you'll just wind up offending someone. good luck. ;)

December 20th, 2005, 01:34 PM

nihil

J_K9

My dear chap, I was not criticising in any way.............errrrrr..........I don't use IE as a rule. I was just thinking of people who may read our posts later on?

ShagDevil

I understand your comments, but I understood that the OP was talking a home environment ?

I will blast Norton and McAfee on their continued attempts to sell their products to the home or SOHO market.

And I can remember when Jon McAfee supplied his products for free ;) on 5.25" floppies?

I can also remember (hell, I still have them) getting McAfee updates once a month...........from Holland, on 3.5" floppies (720Kb).................cost them a lot more than my subscription?

:D

December 21st, 2005, 05:44 PM

brokencrow

There is no magic bullet for computer security. Just hard work. Stay away from the big internet security suites like McAfee and Nortons unless you are too lazy to learn anymore about computers than you already know. They are resource hogs and often difficult to configure. Those fat boys really slow down the new P4's and when they get corrupted, good luck!

AVG and AntiVir are my fav free AV progs for Windows. As much as I hate to say it, Microsoft AntiSpyware is the best of that lot out there, with Ad-Aware and SpyBot right up there.

If your computer is stationary (a desktop), consider building a custom linux gateway like Smoothwall or IPcop or even ClarkConnect. Definitely get a router. With a router or a gateway, firewall software on your computer becomes optional (not necessary unless you're wireless).

If you're mobile, check out iPig for secure surfing at your local coffeehouse hotspot. You'll need a firewall there. My firewall of choice (for now) is Sygate. It's more configurable than free ZoneAlarm. XP's built-in firewall's not bad except for failing to warn on outgoing connections.

You might also consider using TCPview or ActivePorts so you can begin getting a feel for what's going in and out on your ports.

Also, check out Panda's online scan for virii and spyware. It's as good as RAV was before M$ gobbled them up and they took down their online scan.